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E.G. Daily talks “The Voice,” voices, and never delaying your dream

Last night, veteran singer/actor/voice artist E.G. Daily sang her last note on NBC’s “The Voice,” having fallen, in part, to a nasty case of bronchitis. But the 52-year-old Daily (Tommy Pickles on “Rugrats,” “Powerpuff Girls,” “Valley Girl,” “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure”) told me today that she’s thrilled to have been a part of this show, not only for what it means to her career, but what it might mean to others, of both the human and four-legged variety.

Question: We were so sorry to see you go last night! What did that experience mean to you?
Answer: It was kind of like a whirlwind. I did it on a whim. This woman I met signed me up for it. She said “I signed you up for “The Voice” and I said “They’re not gonna put me on that show!”

Q: But they did!
A: It was really a validation to me of doing what you love to do for the right reasons. I’ve been in music my whole life. I’ve had record deals before. I felt I had to get right into music again. But there’s this thing that “In your 40s, it’s silly. You shouldn’t be doing music.” And I started to buy into it. That wasn’t me at all. I’m not a rule follower, but I started to fall into that “I can’t do this.” But I’ve gotta do what I love to do, every day. I can’t imagine that I got one chair turned, let alone two chairs!

Q: I think that’s inspirational to a lot of people who don’t fit into that pop star mold, that you validated that for them.
A: It’s like that Winston Churchill quote – “Never, ever, ever give up.”

Q: A lot of the people on the show, or starting out in the business, are much, much younger and might be approaching this differently than you did.
A: When you’re young, it’s about yourself, about being a celebrity. For me it’s a lot bigger now. Going on a show like “The Voice” is about my kids, about the message to other women in their 50s who are the mother of teenagers who are driving them crazy. There are much bigger things I want in life. I think now “How can I use this as a platform to be a mouth for animals, to be a voice for people with anxiety and depression, because I understand that. I’m a human being, and I have such a big heart. I want to use (having been on the show) as a platform to do much bigger things beyond myself. It’s not about getting a record deal – I’ve had record deals. I’ve given myself record deals, with my own label. This is a platform to pull together all the voices of E.G.

Q: Where do you go from here? What has that platform done so far?
A: A whole bunch of stuff! I can’t talk a lot about it yet, but I can say that it’s across the board. There are TV things, guesting for things. I’m looking into things like “Nashville” or “Glee” that need actor/singers. My credibility as a singer is up now. And in animation there is a different interest in me now. There are a lot of things. I can’t say exactly. But it’s beautiful.

Q: I read that your introduction to being a voice actor was a happy accident, too.
A: It was one of those flukey things. I never said as a kid “When I’m an adult I’m gonna be a famous cartoon.” I did a play – the reason I chose to do it is that I wanted to be singing, but I didn’t feel like putting a band together, so I thought “It’s a musical, I can just sing.” The producer said “All you need to do is star and do your voices.” And out of that play I got a massive record deal in the ’80s, and then a voice agent. All because I simply wanted to sing. It keeps reminding me that when I concentrate on the things I love, amazing things happen.

Q: What were your favorite things about being on “The Voice?”
A: What’s fascinating about it was that I didn’t get any preferential treatment or anything. You get a roommate, no matter who you are. I hadn’t had a roommate as an adult, in a long while. There was something about not knowing this person and getting to know them as a person. The first roommate was in the blind (auditions) and didn’t get any chairs turned. It was hard to see that, although everyone doesn’t get through at some point, all the way to the end. But whoever assigned those roommates knew what they were doing. It was so perfect. We literally laughed all the time. My third roommate was Tessanne (Chin), who is so talented and lovely. There was something really special about that part of it. I felt like I was in camp!

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